Sick chicken help

[Zach66]

One of my hens started acting sick today and I’m not sure what it could be or how to help. My wife initially noticed her acting odd and thought she might have something stuck in her throat. She was making an odd almost sneezing or coughing sound and her mouth was watery with saliva. When I came home from work she let me pick her up, which she usually will not do, and we looked in her mouth. There was nothing obvious. We gave her a syringe of water and she swallowed some but at the end she didn’t.

She also started twitching a little bit mostly with her feet. I also noticed she had some white diarrhea. I just put her inside in our bathtub but don’t know what else to do or try. She seems to be getting worse and the coughing is still there. Any help on what I can do is appreciated. I was thinking of going and getting some electrolytes to try and give to her.

Thanks.

 

[Zach66]

One of my hens started acting sick today and I’m not sure what it could be or how to help. My wife initially noticed her acting odd and thought she might have something stuck in her throat. She was making an odd almost sneezing or coughing sound and her mouth was watery with saliva. When I came home from work she let me pick her up, which she usually will not do, and we looked in her mouth. There was nothing obvious. We gave her a syringe of water and she swallowed some but at the end she didn’t.

She also started twitching a little bit mostly with her feet. I also noticed she had some white diarrhea. I just put her inside in our bathtub but don’t know what else to do or try. She seems to be getting worse and the coughing is still there. Any help on what I can do is appreciated. I was thinking of going and getting some electrolytes to try and give to her.

Thanks.

I could take video of her later if that would help if I can post.

 

[Eggcessive]

Sorry about your hen? How old is she? Does she have any bubbles in her eyes or are they watery. Any nasal discharge? She could choke on water unless it is taken by her willingly, or by just placing a drop into her beak gradually letting her swallow. One way to get extra water into her would be to offer really wet chicken feed, or to drop a little water onto some cooked egg if she acts hungry. Tube feeding fluids can also be done if you can get a tube and a syringe, and learn how. Make sure that she is warm enough. Feel of her crop in her right upper chest to feel if it is empty or full, firm or puffy/boggy. If they have fluid in their crop from a slow crop or a sour crop, they may sometimes get contents backing up into the throat, and sound congested. Have you added any new birds recently? To add a video, post one to YouTube with a link here.

 

[Zach66]

Thanks for the reply....

I have not added any new birds. I have 5 total and I am new at raising. I should have said about her age because that may be relevant. She is just at laying age, so pretty young. I'm not sure she is laying yet but all the others that are the same age as her started within the last 3 weeks. She is the only one that I have not seen trying to lay.

I have not noticed any naval discharge just the watery mouth. The eyes do not appear watery and I don't notice any bubbles. I'll feel her chest but I'm not sure what a normal one would be.

I'll be careful with the watering and do like you said and just drop on her beak. We may keep her inside tonight in our bathtub and see how she does. I did get some electrolytes.

 

[Zach66]

The right side of her chest is all buffy and is protruding quite a bit. I'll do research quick on it. She is now laying on her side and I don't think she'll last very long.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry that she is worse. Sometimes it is hard to tell exactly what is wrong until we can get a necropsy after we lose one. The state vet is a good place to contact for a necropsy if you should lose her. There can so many different problems with chickens. Some can show up around the time of maturity. If she is still alive in the morning, I would try to see a vet or take in some droppings to be checked for coccidiosis. She could just have a crop disorder, but sometimes reproductive disorders and other illnesses can cause the crop to be slow to empty. If you can give her drops of Poultry NutriDrench or electrolytes (Gatorade or Pedialyte) it might get some fluids into her. Here is a link for contacting most state vets:
https://www.metzerfarms.com/PoultryLabs.cfm

 

[Zach66]

She ended up dying. Everything came on so fast...she was fine yesterday. It appeared to be something she ate. I massaged her crop and she ended up starting to throw up. I thought that was a good sign. After some time of doing that she started convulsing appearing to try to clear whatever it was, but she wasn't able to get it out.

Thanks for your help....I appreciate your time.

 

[Eggcessive]

So sorry for your loss. Massaging a puffy crop can sometimes cause the contents of the crop to come up into the throat. It sounded as though she was not going to live through the night. You may get some answers with getting a necropsy by the state vet. Refrigerate, but do not freeze the body, and contact your state vet in the morning. Some people do necropsies themselves on their birds and take pictures of the organs to post here for opinions. Young birds can die of heart problems at the point of laying.